Saving Me
by Wildfire2345
Summary: Songfic set to Nickelback's Savin' Me. About Lily and James's final moments. RR!


**A.N. **– Hello! One of my New Year's resolutions is to put up at least one oneshot for every holiday this year, and I couldn't very well miss New Years, could I? This isn't one of my better stories, but I really look forward to your opinions.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter (obviously). And this song, "Savin' Me" belongs to Nickleback.

**Saving Me**

**Prison gates won't open up for me**

**On these hands and knees I'm crawling**

**Oh, I reach for you**

Lily Potter's bright green eyes gazed fondly upon her sleeping infant's face. He looked so untouched and peaceful just lying there . . . innocent. Such a trait was no longer common, even among the youthful.

"James," cooed Lily, leaning into her husband as he joined her side and draped an arm over her small shoulders, "isn't he the most adorable thing you've ever seen?"

James Potter laughed. "Aside from myself?" he joked, his hazel eyes twinkling with mischief. "Most definitely."

"One would most likely attribute that to the fact that he looks so much like his father." Lily smiled up at James, who was staring at their son with something akin to tender affection in his gaze.

James turned to his wife, eyebrows raised. "I don't think I ever looked like that," he replied. "I was never _that _minuscule."

"Were so," Lily scoffed. "Everyone was at one point in their lifetime."

James shook his head resolutely. "Not me. I was an unnaturally large baby."

"No. You were a regular sized baby with an oversized head," Lily corrected him. "Inflated by your arrogance, no doubt."

"Hey! I thought we'd reached the conclusion that I wasn't arrogant, simply —"

"—spoiled as a child," Lily finished for him with an exaggerated sigh, "I know. But still, according to your mother – and that picture of you as a baby on the mantle – you were once that tiny."

James looked shocked. "That's a picture of _me?_" he exclaimed. "I thought that was Harry!"

Lily smiled. "See? You two do look alike."

James grinned down at the top of his wife's head. This was how he had always imagined life would be: a loving wife, a beautiful son . . . A family.

**Well I'm terrified of these four walls**

**These iron bars can't hold my soul in**

**All I need is you**

"_Hang on, I have to get mine first!" James protested, sitting Lily down at a kitchen chair while he hastily ran into the other room to retrieve her gift. Lily heaved an impatient sigh, though a smile played on her lips. James returned a moment later with a small box in his hand, wrapped rather horribly in decorated Christmas paper._

"_I wrapped it myself," said James, burning with embarrassment as he handed Lily her gift. "I decided I'd try the muggle method."_

_Lily laughed and joked, "I can tel! But you still did a marvelous job for someone who has never done this before, you should've seen my first attempt at it!" She tore at the wrapping and removed it to reveal a blue velvet box. Lily gasped._

"_James, I —"_

"_Shh," he instructed. He delicately pried the box from her shaking fingers and closed his own around it. Lily's curious gaze moved quickly to James's confident countenance as he lowered himself to one knee and snapped it open, revealing a single, magnificent diamond set into a gold band. On the inside of the band was the inscription: "Thomas and Charlene Potter," written in small letters. Another engraving closely followed._

"_James and Lily Potter."_

_Lily's eyes hastily searched James's face. "James, that's —"_

"_I know," James interrupted, staring fondly at the ring. "My mother and father's. It's a tradition in our family to do things like this, unless of course you mind, in which case I have no problem getting another."_

_Lily pressed her finger to his mouth, effectively quieting him. "James," she whispered, "it would be an honor. But there's something you have to do first."_

_He looked at her for a moment, then smiled and held the small square box in his palm. His eyes bore into hers as the words she had longed to hear for so long left his lips._

"_Lily Evans, will you marry me?"_

**Heaven's gates won't open up for me**

**With these broken wings I'm falling**

**And all I see is you**

Lily and James exchanged weary glances as the familiar sound of Harry's wails filled the nursery.

"I think you might have scared him," Lily informed her husband, stepping over one of Harry's rejected toys to where her son had previously been sleeping. She lifted the crying infant into her arms and began rocking him gently back and forth, while James crept to her side.

Holding her close to him, they shared a look down at the new life their love had created.

**These city walls ain't got no love for me**

**I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story**

**And oh I scream for you**

_Lily Evans gave a contented sigh, feeling James's gentle fingers brush lightly over her face as he carefully tucked a stray lock of auburn hair behind her ear. She smiled and snuggled closer to him._

"_Can you believe we're going to be married in two days?" whispered Lily, gazing into his hazel eyes with overpowering emotion. They stared right back at her, betraying equal passion._

_James leaned back against his propped-up elbow. "Not really," he confided. "It is a bit overwhelming."_

"_I know what you mean." She let out a soft chuckle. "I mean, if anyone had told me I would be marrying James Potter a few years ago, I would have suggested a nice, comfy room in St. Mungo's."_

"_You don't regret it, do you?"_

_Lily's emerald eyes cut upward, stopping at the sight of his reluctant expression. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his, kissing him passionately. She pulled away to look him directly in the eyes. _

"_Not at all." _

**Come please I'm calling**

**Oh I scream for you**

**Hurry, I'm falling**

A loud gong sounded throughout the house. James shared a panicked, frantic glance with his wife before leaping out of the room and bounding down the stairs as quickly as his legs would carry him. He reached the living room window and cautiously pulled back the curtain, peering out into the dark night. His blood ran cold.

Lily appeared at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide and fearful as she clutched Harry protectively closer to her. When James noticed her, he panicked.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off —"

**Show me what it's like**

**To be the last one standing**

_Lily traced his handsome features with her fingertips, committing each feature to memory. His eyes were closed, but she knew from his shallow breathing that he was only pretending. _

"_I'll never leave you," vowed Lily, whispering into his tousled black hair. "I promise."_

**And teach me wrong from right**

**And I'll show you what I can be**

With one last look into James's pleading eyes, Lily was struck by the weight of the prophecy Albus Dumbledore had unloaded upon them. James was right, she needed to get Harry to safety – both for her sake as a mother and for the sake of the world. But she also needed to ensure James's safety, for her sake as a wife.

She ran down the stairs as quickly as she could with a baby in her arms and gave James a long, deep kiss before looking him directly in the eye, trying to convey her message without words. _I love you._

Without a glance back, Lily hurried up the stairs.

James watched her retreating figure, savoring the feel of her lips pressed against his and resigning himself to the fact that this would probably be the last time he ever saw her beautiful face. For in his heart, he knew the truth – fate was inevitable.

The door crashed open a moment later, and a cold, cruel laugh filled the house. A figure, draped in a black cloak, entered the landing as though he had been invited over for tea. The catlike slits that served him for eyes scrutinized the room with the air of someone not easily impressed. His "eyes" landed on the mantle, where Lily kept all the family photos, and he snorted.

"See anything you like?" James asked boldly, holding his wand aloft as he stepped from the shadows. Voldemort turned, a hideous grin creasing his pale face. James inwardly cringed, though outwardly he held firm, unwavering.

_For you, my Lily._

**Say it for me**

**Say it to me**

**And I'll leave this life behind me**

**Say it if it's worth saving me**

James blinked. Stretching his legs, he attempted to right himself, and found to his obvious shock that the task of supporting his own weight was no longer as difficult as it had been during the duel.

He soon found himself enveloped in a tight embrace, and he recognized the perfume immediately.

"Mother!"

Charlene Potter drew back, wiping the joyous tears from her eyes as she surveyed her son. James marveled at her beauty; accustomed to the worried lines and growing fatigue she had acquired from work, he was surprised to see her looking so youthful.

"James! Oh, have you grown!"

Someone clapped him on the back and James turned, coming face to face with a strikingly familiar face.

"Hello, son." Thomas Potter pulled James into a hug as well. "Your mother and I are so proud of you."

James reveled in the feeling of being in his parents' arms for the first time in three years. Oh, had he missed them!

"Where am I?" asked James, his eyes scanning the crowd of deceased relatives and family. His father simply looked at him with a knowing smile. "Who are all of these people?"

Thomas Potter broke out in a huge grin, as did his wife. "You'll come to know in time," he replied, "but for right now, there is one who has joined our numbers that desperately wishes to speak with you."

"Who?"

The crowd parted and there stood Lily Evans Potter, her hair blowing gently in the breeze, the one person James had been searching for and could never have lived without.

**And all I need is you . . .**

A.N. – What did you think? Good? Bad? Don't care? Review!


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